Commentary

The US Department of Health & Human Services announced yesterday that it was ending a research grant to the University of California at San Francisco because that institution continues to use aborted baby parts in its medical research. That grant is worth almost $14 million a year.

The research going on at UCSF requires tissue harvested from babies aborted at between 17-24 weeks, or almost 6 months into a pregnancy. Some babies can survive outside the womb at that stage of his or her development.  And, without serious debate, all of those babies can and do experience intense pain during the abortion experience.

This whole issue came into national focus several years ago when undercover videos were shot showing that Planned Parenthood had developed a lucrative black market by harvesting tissue and organs from babies they kill in the abortion procedure; the organization then sells those organs to unscrupulous medical researchers who feel unbound to abide by ethical standards in conducting human research.

On the heels of that revelation, Idaho Chooses Life pressed the Idaho Legislature to make it clear that such heinous medical research would be illegal in Idaho. We were successful.

However, during that legislative session, we became aware of the fact our own federal government was up to its hips in financing research efforts using tissue and organs from aborted babies. To the tune of tens of millions of dollars. It is an appalling situation that demanded correction.  We contacted our congressional delegation and asked for their help in getting the U.S. government out of this sordid business.  They responded, and upon the election of Donald Trump, began pressing for a change in policy at the HHS and the National Institutes of Health.

Praise the Lord! We are grateful to announce that, not only did HHS cancel the grant to the University of California yesterday – it also announced a change in policy.  In a press release, the department said that it will no longer fund research involving the use of human fetal tissue from elective abortions.

Going even further, HHS will provide an additional $20 million to find viable, ethical alternatives to tissue gathered from aborted babies.

This is a huge development and we are grateful to the leadership of Senators Crapo and Risch, as well as President Trump for his commitment to building a culture of Life within the entire federal administration.